Simultaneous play word-forming game

ABSTRACT

A word-forming game allows multiple players to form words simultaneously, thereby increasing the speed of the game and enhancing excitement. In the preferred embodiment, the game is based upon the game Scrabble®, and includes substantially complete board sections enabling up to four players to form words at the same time. The four board sections are preferably integrated into a single large board, with the four playing sections being color-coded as a means of separation. The players choose color-coded letters from color-coded bags, placing them on specialized four-tier racks. After the players have had the opportunity to arrange their letters on the multi-tiered racks, each forms a word beginning in one of the four sections of the board corresponding to their particular color. When the words have been formed, the board is turned 90-degrees, and each player then forms a second word that attaches to a word previously spelled-out on the board now in front of them. This process continues until the tiles are used up, or some other event causing the termination of the game. The preferred embodiment further includes specialized playing pieces that enable all of the players to see the various tiles on the board as it is turned from play to play. Once each player uses up a tier on his or her rack equal to the number of players in the game, a new tile-picking sequence begins from the various color-coded bags.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to word-forming games and, inparticular, to word-forming games that facilitate simultaneous playamong multiple players.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Scrabble® is one of the most popular board games in the world. It waspurportedly invented by American architect, Alfred Mosher Butts, duringthe great depression. The popularity of the game increased in the 1950swhen Macy's department store began selling it. All intellectual propertyrights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by HasbroInc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limitedof Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Matteland Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Scrabble is played by two to four players on a board containing a gridof rectangles. Each player picks 7 letter-bearing tiles and places themon a rack in front of them. The tiles also show point values associatedwith the letter on each tile, with larger values being allocated forletters used less frequently; for example, an “E” is worth 1 pointwhereas a “Z” is worth 10. The players take turns forming legitimateEnglish language words on the board by placing the tiles in therectangles. Scores are influenced by special rectangles on the boardwhich award extra points for doubling or tripling the value of aparticular letter or an entire word.

After forming a word, that player announces his score and it isrecorded. The player then replenishes their rack with new tiles, onlyhaving 7 tiles in their rack at any time. If all 7 tiles are used in oneword, the player receives a bonus of 50 points and takes 7 more tiles,if there are that many left in the bag or face down on the table. Playproceeds to the left. Taking turns, everyone places their tiles on theboard to form legitimate words. If other players feel a word is notlegitimate they can challenge it. If the challenge is proven to becorrect, the player has to take the word off the board, losing the pointtotal and a turn. Players have to add onto other player's tiles to formnew words. The goal of the game is to use all the tiles on the board.The game ends when one of the players has used up all their tiles andthe tiles in the bag or if no more legitimate words can be formed by theremaining tiles. The point scores left on the other players racks aresubtracted from their scores and added to the first place finisher'sscore. The person with the highest score wins.

There have been several attempts to “improve” the game of scrabble,including some concepts involving expedited play and/or specializedpieces. U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,915 describes a game of forming words on aplaying surface including a plurality of triangular shaped playingpieces, each marked on one side with either a letter, number, symbol orcombinations thereof, which letters, numbers and symbols are forarranging on a playing surface having correspondingly shaped triangularspaces thereon to form words of the adjacent pieces and to control theplaying strategy of the game.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,591,161 and 4,637,609 describe a method and apparatusfor a game in which a plurality of word-building structures, each havinga plurality of playing spaces, are disposed about a game board. Thepreferred word-building structure comprises a pyramid shaped grid having49 playing spaces. The pyramid is arranged in seven rows, with thirteenplaying spaces in the base row and two less playing spaces in eachsucceedingly higher row. A word-building structure is associated witheach respective competitor, as well as a color-coded set of playingpieces containing alphanumeric characters. These pieces are used by eachcompetitor for building words in the horizontal, vertical, and diagonaldirections in his respective word-building structure during a threeminute word-building phase. The game board is then rotated to place eachcompetitor in front of an opponent's word-building structure for anoffensive phase, during which a competitor may strategically place hisplaying pieces to block selected spaces adjacent previously built wordson an opponent's structure, thereby limiting the opponent's use of theblocked spaces in subsequent word-building phases and capturing thescoring value of the blocked words. Play continues with alternatingword-building phases and offensive phases until one of a set ofpredetermined conditions occurs. Scores are tallied at the end of agame, at which time the point values of words are determined and thefinal determination of their ownership is made.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,854 describes a game for playing a game based on acrossword puzzle includes a field with squares on which pieces can beoverlaid to simulate the crossword puzzle. The field is partitioned intozones assigned to the different players. Pieces are positioned by theplayers in turn to define entries for the puzzle. Points can be assignedto the entries and at the end of the game, when no more entries can bemade by a player, the points are tabulated to determine a winner.

Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0057649A1 describes a wordgame apparatus which comprises of: (1) A supply of four identical setsof 52 printed alphabet tiles, each set with letters printed in one offour different colors for a total of 208 tiles which includes eightjoker tiles. (2) A supply of 52 printed game cards specifying four wordsfrom two to six letters in length, each word to be assembled in one ofsaid colors for a total of 15 letters. (3) Four alphabet tile and gamecard holding racks configured to hold 15 alphabet tiles and one printedgame card. To play the game, each player (from two to four can play) issupplied at random with one of the 52 game cards described in (2) above.Each player then makes a random selection of 15 alphabet tiles from asupply means, such as a bag or with all tiles lying face down on theplaying table. Each player then separates their 15 tiles into fourspecified colors with the object of making four words of two, three,four, five or six letters in each color specified by game card suppliedto him. Included are eight “joker” tiles which can be used to representany desired letter in any word of three or more letters. The winner isthe first player to complete four words in the color and lengthindicated on player's game card. Winning player receives one point foreach unused tile and five points for each unused “joker” on all losingplayer's racks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to a word-forming game which allows multipleplayers to form words simultaneously, thereby increasing the speed ofthe game and enhancing excitement. In the preferred embodiment, the gameis based upon the game Scrabble®, and includes substantially completeboard sections enabling up to four players to form words at the sametime.

The four board sections are preferably integrated into a single largeboard, with the four playing sections being color-coded as a means ofseparation. The players choose color-coded letters from color-codedbags, placing them on specialized four-tier racks. After the playershave had the opportunity to arrange their letters on the multi-tieredracks, each forms a word beginning in one of the four sections of theboard corresponding to their particular color. When the words have beenformed, the board is turned 90-degrees, and each player then forms asecond word that attaches to a word previously spelled-out on the boardnow in front of them. This process continues until the tiles are usedup, or some other event causing the termination of the game.

To further speed the playing process, an optional rule is that all ofthe players must form their words in a given period of time, such thatthe player(s) unable to do so lose a turn. A different, optional rule,may be that the last player capable of forming a word on the boardduring a word-forming sequence loses his or her turn.

In the preferred embodiment, the various sections of the board aresubstantially similar to a Scrabble® board, except that where the boardsintersect, double-letter, as opposed to word-based increases, areutilized. Players are allowed for form words using the colors of theparticular section which extend into a different color and, in fact, inthe preferred embodiment, extra points are given when a differentlycolored section of a board is entered and interconnected to wordspreviously formed there. The preferred embodiment further includesspecialized playing pieces that enable all of the players to see thevarious tiles on the board as it is turned from play to play. Once eachplayer uses up a tier on his or her rack equal to the number of playersin the game, a new tile-picking sequence begins from the variouscolor-coded bags.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a drawing which shows a preferred playing board according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail drawing showing one of the ways a preferred playingboard according to the invention departs from a conventional Scrabbleboard;

FIG. 3 is a perspective-view drawing which shows a preferred playingtile according to the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a drawing that shows a novel game-tile rack and color-codedbags according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a preferred playing boardaccording to the invention depicted generally at 100. In the preferredembodiment, the overall board includes four board sections 102, 104, 106and 108 that are similar to traditional Scrabble® boards with certainexceptions. For one, the grids are square as opposed to rectangular. Inaddition, each section is color-coded, as shown by the differenthatching patterns. Note that DL stands for “double letter,” “DW” for“double word,” “TL” for “triple letter,” and “TW” for “triple word.” Inthe FIG. 1, these letter codes are facing in four different directionssuch that at any time, each player sees one of the sections with thelegends oriented in their direction, despite board rotation as describedbelow.

Referring to FIG. 2, another difference between a preferred board and aScrabble® board has to do with the areas of intersection between theboard sections. In particular, as opposed to a few DL spaces along eachedge, DL spaces fill the row between the three TW squares. This is doneas an incentive to cross these boundaries during play, as also describedherein below. Also, note that some of the DW squares are replaced withDL spaces 204 in FIG. 2. This was done because it was found that wordmultipliers, particularly so close to one another on either side of asection boundary led to inordinately high scores.

FIG. 3 is a drawing which shows a preferred playing tile 302 accordingto the invention, which has the primary surface 304 and secondarysurfaces 306, 308, and 310, all representing the same letter andoptional numerical point value 312. This novel tile is used so that eachplayer can view each tile form all four sides, particularly as the boardis turned. The numerical value is said top be optional because inaddition to the rules of play prescribed below, a variation is to awardbasic point on the length of the words formed, regardless of the lettersused. For example, in addition to word multipliers and special bouts forcrossing boundaries and/or connecting, the following values may be awardfor word length: Letters in Word Formed Point Score 2 2 3 5 4 8 5 20 650 7 100

The preferred embodiment includes four color-coded sets of such tiles,such as red, yellow, blue and green, which are drawn from separate,color-coded bags 402, 404, 406, 408 and placed on a special rack 410, asshown in FIG. 4. In each rack, the various tiers are differentlystaggered, so that the bottom tier of each player starts out with adifferent color, followed by the next color in sequence, so that thetiles are used from the bottom tier to the top tier by each player asthe board is turned.

To play the game, making reference to FIG. 1 in particular, the personsitting in front of board section 102, presumably red in color, willhave a rack wherein the lowest tier includes red tiles. The personfacing board section 104 will have a rack wherein the lowest tierincludes green tiles to match that section of the board, and so on.After each player has chosen tiles from the bags to fill up the rack,and assuming a given amount of time to arrange the tiles within theracks, play begins when each person forming a word on their respectivecolor-coded sections with tiles matching that color.

As with the traditional Scrabble® game, each player starts first withthe star in the middle of the board, which also counts as a double-wordscore. When each player has formed a word, the board is turned90-degrees, such that each player now uses the tiles on the second tierof the rack, which has been sequenced to match the color of the boardnow facing them, and a new set of words are formed, with each playerbeing required to intersect with the word on that board sectionpreviously made by another player. Play proceeds until each player hasused up the tiles on all four tiers, at which time each player choosesenough tiles from each of the color-coded bags to fill-up theirrespective rack, and the play again proceeds as described above.

Due to the unique nature of this game, there are other differencesbetween a traditional Scrabble® game. In addition to the changes to theboard and tiles as already mentioned, given that multiple players canplay simultaneously, an optional rule is that if one or more playersdoes not place their word down in a given period of time, or if threeout of four players have made words, those players which are “late” maylose a turn. In addition, although play commences with the color oftiles being matched to the color of the board sections, players may formwords on differently colored sections of the board, so long asconnections to previous words are made.

Indeed this is encouraged in the preferred embodiment, and optionalspecial rules may include: (1) additional points (such as 10 points) ifa player lands on the central cross-shaped row and column 110, 112; (2)additional points (such as 20 points) if a player crosses one of thecentral cross-shaped row and column 110, 112; and (3) additional points(such as 50 points) if a player attaches to tiles of a different color.The game ends when all of the tiles are gone, at which time the playerwith the highest score wins. As with traditional Scrabble®, if there areany few tiles remaining at the end of the game, they are subtracted fromthat player's overall score.

1. A board game, comprising: a plurality of playing tiles, eachdepicting a letter of the alphabet; a board containing a plurality ofsubstantially identical playing sections, each playing section includinga grid with areas upon which the tiles are simultaneously placed bydifferent players to form words, with at least some of the areasincluding score multiplier indicia.
 2. The board game of claim 1,including tiles with point values associated with the letters depictedthereon.
 3. The board game of claim 1, wherein the playing sections arecolor-coded.
 4. The board game of claim 1, including a plurality ofcolor-coded playing tiles, and wherein the playing sections arecolor-coded to match the tiles.
 5. The board game of claim 1, including:a plurality of color-coded playing tiles, with the playing sectionsbeing color-coded to match the tiles; and a tiered rack to hold theplaying tiles of each player.
 6. The board game of claim 7, wherein theracks include four tiers.
 7. The board game of claim 1, including fourplaying sections.
 8. A method of playing a board game, comprising thesteps of: a) providing the board of claim 1; b) choosing a plurality oftiles according to claim 1 by each player; c) forming a word during thesame period of time in each section of the board facing each player; d)scoring each player according to the word(s) formed in the respectiveboard sections; e) rotating play so that each player is addresses a newsection of the board; f) repeating steps c) through e) until new tilesare needed by the players; g) repeating step b) until the tiles aresubstantially used by the players or the game is concluded; and h)accumulating the scores of each player to determine a winner.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the board includes for substantially similarsections.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sections arecolor-coded.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein each player is providedwith a rack to hold their tiles, with each tier being associated withplay on a separate section of the board.
 12. The method of claim 8,wherein the board includes score multiplier squares.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, wherein: the board includes boundaries between the sections;and the players are awarded extra points for placing a tile on aboundary.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein: the board includesboundaries between the sections; and the players are awarded extrapoints for forming a word that crosses a boundary.
 15. The method ofclaim 8, wherein: the players are awarded extra points for forming aword that connects to a word formed by a different player.
 16. Themethod of claim 8, wherein: the board is rotated so that each playerfaces a new section.
 17. The method of claim 8, wherein: a player ispenalized if they are the last to form a word with respect to aparticular section.